NDP 08 vs Beijing 2008 opening

Yesterday, I heard someone remark that "after watching the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics on 8 Aug, the National Day Parade 2008 (NDP 08) was nothing" and I wondered if that person was comparing apple for apple.

Planning for the 2008 Beijing Olympics started in 2001, whereas planning for each NDP only took place about a year before. So the Chinese had 7 years while we only have 1 year every year.

The budget for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was 'tens of millions' while NDP 08 definitely costs much less (does anyone have the budget for NDP 08?).

And of course, the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was directed by famous director Zhang Yimou and featured 15,000 performers , while NDP 08 was helmed by an army guy and his creative team.

While most of of the 91,000 people in the Beijing 2008 opening ceremony has to pay for their tickets, NDP 08 tickets were free of charge (unless you bought it from a tout).